Sunday, June 29, 2008

Mavic Ksyrium Elite 2 Wheels - Ordered!!

Just ordered these wheels last Monday. I should have them in just a few more days! I paid $676 at Plano Cycling. Now, with frame and wheels the bike total is up to $1,426. I'm going for the Shimano Ultegra 10 groupo and, so far, I'm thinking about Vittoria tires. It's all coming along...slower than I originally thought...but better, too!

I'm using Vittoria Zaffiro's as commuter tires right now and really like them; perhaps one of the most confidence inspiring tires I've ridden for most surfaces. This the first set of Vittoria tires I've tried.

I've had them since the fall, but not many miles since I quit commuting for so long right after I got them. I have a few hundred miles so far, on every kind of road surface, wet and dry, and even some trail time ;-) The Zaffiros (23c in my case) didn't cost that much, esp. on sale at Performance ($20 ea I think? Don't know the retail), that's part of the reason I got them... I'm hard on tires anyway, and combine that with urban road conditions and debris, I don't want to shell out $50+ every time I hit broken concrete... so far these have held up well; I even 'Konijn hop' the occasional curb :-D. I can imagine that cross-specific models would be very durable.

My '94 Volvo wagon was a total loss! Blam! Right there in front of my bank. How could I get hit so hard in the middle of downtown? ... and it was my fault too. Plus, the van that hit me didn't look damaged at all.

Now Im riding my bicycle everywhere. I may not buy another car. I'm so much fitter in just three weeks.

I didn't really get "into" cross until last November. I was watching some Belgian cross videos on You Tube and thought DAMN! Now that's what I need to be doing! So, since then I've been practicing on my own (mounts, dismounts, running over jumps with my mtb bike, bunny hops, etc). The cool thing is that if I can do this with a 33 lb. mtb bike...just think of what this Ridley will feel like! :D

Nice bike, er, frame and wheels...where's the pics of the complete bike! Our first cross race is a week from tomorrow! Texas...I guess cross is everywhere! I thought about applying to a couple of firms there but Portland really became to hard to leave.